Disco Boy by Giacomo Abbruzzese is a war film, with a gaze on neocolonialism and “ancestral catharsis”, but also something deeper. Impalpable intimacy and an abysmal atmosphere perfuse every visual element of the film. Although certainly anchored in a heroic dimension of strength, it poses existential questions. As its characters, Aleksei (Franz Rogowski), Jomo (Moor Ndiaye), and Udoka (Läetita Ky), follow their quest, they come as neither good or bad. However, the flattening of the female character in the movie leaves a strange feeling in the spectators, who wonder: perhaps more could have been done to empower Udoka? Put a firearm in her hand? The day after its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, we discussed this and other questions related to Disco boy with the actress and artist Lätitia Ky. Disco Boy was the only Italian movie competing at the 73rd Berlinale, where its director of photography Hélène Louvart won a Silver Bear.
G. Olmo Stuppia, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Your role is very important in the movie, where we see the shape of your body, as well as the identity of Udoka, Jomo’s sister, who wants to escape from the village of Niger Delta. She wants to build a new future away from home. How do you feel after this experience that challanges the “heroic” dimension of the French Legion Etrangère and of MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) fighting? You were also the only relevant female character in the movie.
Läetita Ky (LK): I’m feeling fine. It was so easy for me, I let myself go and I was very concentrated. It was a learning process because I’m an emerging actress, and this is only my second project [L.K is the leading actress in La Nuite des Rois by Philippe Lacôte]. I’m pretty used to working only with men when it comes to acting. My first project was set in jail and there were only men. Disco Boy was a good experience. I didn’t feel like I was the only woman because all men were very respectful.
(UM): Ten years of work to debut with such a movie in a world where “la société du spectacle” is influencing politics and the way we “watch” things. Was it a surprise for you? Also a way to discover more about the Nigerian situation, the “imperial darkness” as defined western media like The Guardian?
(LK): Absolutely, I learned a lot, because I’m Ivorian, not Nigerian. It’s another world but there are some similarities. The idea is that this story can also fit with other African countries. It is not quite a whole new perspective, it’s something I can also identify myself with.
(UM): Going back to the movie… there is a “liberating catharsis” in the movie: the dance is like a “sufi” trance almost. How was it to perform that?
(LK): First of all I am not a professional dancer. I love music and I like to move. So, when Giacomo told me that I would have been in the dance scene, I was a little worried. I said “Oh no, I’m not good at dancing” but he said everything will be fine. Then I went to Paris to prepare the choreography. I realized it wasn’t that difficult. The choreographer was great, he taught us how to liberate ourselves through music. It was like therapy. It was terrific and I was lucky because I’ve got a good memory and it was easy for me to remember all the steps. When it was time to shoot it became very demanding because it is a real physical exercise, we made several rehearsals. During the shooting at the village my feet were bleeding and I was supposed to do at least 20 take with my foot that kept bleeding, so it was quite hard. We trained for a week for hours and hours every day. After that everything went ok, I liked the choreography and loved being part of it. There was a kind of “spirituality” in the dance. It wasn’t that simple, we had to try and train and pretend to have convulsions during the dance. I believe that in all his movies there is a kind of shaking that becomes stronger and stronger and this is the magic of Giacomo Abruzzese and his cast: to be able to maintain this strength with patience because sometimes there are very strong shots and its visual atmosphere could drop.
(UM): You work as an artist on your body in so many ways, so the identity of your body is important to communicate with the rest of the cast and the public. Do you have a method or you just let your intuition come out? Some feminists criticized the movie because of the masculine gaze on the female black body, a recurring colonial trope. What do you think of that?
(LK): I never felt used as a Black woman. I just simply deliver my job with the cast of the movie. My ideas come when I ignore them, when I live my everyday life. When I’m close to particular subjects, I sit with a notebook and a pencil and I try to make a concept of what I want to create.
(UM): In this movie, what aspect is the deepest for you? If you watch yourself as a spectator, what do you like most in your performance?
(LK): Hard to say. When I watched Disco Boy for the first time I was surprised. We worked a lot more on dialogues, and in the end, there weren’t so many. But I thought it was better. We gave more importance to interpretation. I felt like I was in a picture in the movie. It wasn’t only the story but the performance, the way of turning, the music, the sound, the atmosphere, and the visual universe, that assured us that everything was in his place. I really fell in love with this movie that does not tell much in terms of words. It’s the history of Udoka and her brother, that are very close to each other. They dance together and not even death can pull them apart, they go and find themselves again somewhere else and they keep dancing and nothing can separate them. The symbolism in all of this is just magic.
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